While Nick was busting his brain on how to grab Pat & Kevin's attention, Ashlee and Brian were engaged in their own conversation.
On the top deck, the ocean view was magnificent. The moonlight reflected from the ocean, and it had just the right amount of breeze.
Brian had feelings for Ashlee and vice versa. Before touring, they both were dating, but Brian being in the group and all, Ashlee having her own thing, brought them no were near closer to each other. They both decided to put a halt on the relationship. " I really did miss you." He told her. "So have I, I haven't been able to get you off of my mind." Ashlee said.
Brian pulled her closer to him. " I think we ought to give the relationship another chance. And this time make it work, instead of working against it."
Nick finally reached a conclusion on how to grab their attention. He stayed near the ship wall, to avoid major injuries.
" Why don't I ever wind up like them?" Nick asked himself out loudly. "Because you don't try hard enough." Ashlee said. Brian and her had just walked down to the bottom deck, and were right behind Nick. "Well I'll be damned." Brian said. "He finally kissed her…"
"Anyway, I got to get their attention with out getting hit." Nick said, in a confused tone of voice. " Nick you just don't know." Ashlee exclaimed," Let me do it, I'm not going to continue spying on them."
A few seconds later they stopped for a breath of fresh air, and Ashlee made her way over. "Trisha! I've been looking all over for you!" They both just looked at each other, and looked at Ashlee again. "Come on, gambling table is going to start!" She continued. "I'm up for it…how about you?" Pat asked, looking towards Kevin. " Fine with me." He answered back. All five of them made there way to the second deck , and bumped into Howie, Sheena and AJ. " Well we're all here, so let's roll some dice!" AJ stated.
As they made their way to the gambling room, Howie ran in front of everyone, and held the door for the females. When entering the room, two middle-aged women (trying to act half their age) approached them. "Aren't you people the Backstreet Guys!" The first women said anxiously. "Backstreet Boys." Brian corrected her. " Y'all don't look like boys from here." Said the second women.
These two middle-aged women, weren't at ALL attractive. One had puffy red hair and black eyes, which Nick estimated to be about 230 lbs., and the other had blond hair
with black roots, a bad case of pink eye, freckles, and to top it off she spit when she talked. Sheena dodged about two spit bombs.
"Anyway," The fat lady continued." What brings y'all to this mag-Ni-fi-cent ship? You boys, excuse me, men, know that I'm from French so I tend to pronounce words differently." The fat lady said in her southern accent. " Like we care." Pat mumbled under her breath.
"But anyway, like I was saying before I was rudely interrupted, I'm Sue and this is my friend Anastasia."
"Y'all, we need to get going…games starting" AJ said.
"Well it was nice meeting you Sue and Anastasia." Brian said out of politeness. " And that goes for all of us." Nick stated. " Speak for yourselves." Pat said. They walked off, and headed to the gambling tables.
They had the first pick on Roulette Table. The bet started at $5. Pat bet on 6, AJ betted on 39, Brian bet on 7. "6!" the dealer called. Pat won $50. The stakes went up to $10 a bet. Pat bet on 36, AJ bet on 28 and Kevin tried his luck on 6."36!" the dealer shouted. "Ok ,that's it ,I'm out." Kevin stated. "Damn it!" AJ exclaimed. Half the night went on with gambling and winnings.
Around 10:30 p.m., they went back to the lounge for some food. Sheena and AJ lead them inside, picking a table. As they made themselves comfortable in the lounge, Sue and Anastasia came walking in.
" Oh hell no." Pat said. AJ looked straight ahead when he heard that. " I think we can still make a run for it." He suggested. " Listen, if we make a run for it, there gonna find us either way." Kevin explained, " And besides, what can be any worst than them?" The table simply fell silent.
As Sue wobbled her body over their way, Anastasia followed. " Why isn't this a pleasure meeting up with you guys again?" She stated. "Oh such a pleasure it is." Pat said sarcastically. " Listen here, I'm tired of hearing your smart mouth, every time I want to talk to these fine men's." Sue told her. " First of all," Pat began, slowly getting up and slamming her hand on the table. "Just drop it Pat." Sheena warned.
The waiter came over to their table to take the order. "Hi, I'm Stacy what can I get you gu--..." She looked up at who she was serving and dropped her order pad. "Oh my GOD! You, you, you guys are the Backstreet Boys!" She said happily."
"Oh dear! You don't have to be all shocked! Their just average people!" Sue added in. Ashlee was getting fed up with Anastasia's comments about the guys. "Listen here." Ashlee began and standing up. "I am tired of you two following us were ever we go on this boat. An I'm especially tired of you both tryin' to hit on men HALF your age!" Pat wiped the side of her eyes. "They grow so fast (sniff)!." She said sarcastically. "Now do us a favor and please leave us all alone for the rest of our dinner!" Ashlee continued. "Well! I have never heard such a thing!" Sue said. "We don't have to take this.... we're leaving!" and away they wobbled.
The next day, they all were packing up for they trip to Monroe County. "The Limo is outside waiting for us." Kevin stated. "We need to hurry up before our flight leaves." Howie said. The chauffeur came in and took up the entire luggage. They all rushed out of the door and into the Limo.
They boarded onto the private jet, and were on their way to Tallahassee. The flight was no longer than 3 hours and each person brought their own items to distract themselves.
"Ladies and Gentlemen please fasten you safety belts we are preparing for landing... thank you." announced the stewardess.
"I wonder what video he wants us here for?" Nick asked. "Well, Lou says he wants to shoot 'I wanna be with you' so basically you can get a visual image about what the video is going to look like." Pat answered." I still don't know why I'm here." Sheena complained. Nick turned to her." We just love you SO much that we can't live a DAY without your presence!" He said sarcastically." Shut up."
The bus pulled up in front of an old, enormous, abandoned building. There was Lou and the recording crew outside waiting for there arrival. They stepped out, and took a look at the place.
The bars on the window gave you the creeps and the isolated area in which it was located made you think. An area where no one could hear your screams. Tortured souls haunted this place, the ones that died by force. Trees showed no sign of life. No creatures were to be found. It seemed as if you were stuck in an Alfred Hitchcock movie. The grass was dead and the only thing that stuck out was the sign. 'The Yale Laboratory'. It didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out. Tests were run on the victims that stayed in this Insane Asylum. At first they all thought it wasn't a real big deal, but by the time they got there and saw what the place looked like, they started having second thoughts.
Lou wobbled his way over to them acting as if it was a jolly good day, and the laboratory wasn't anything. "Glad you all could make it here safely." He cheerfully said, " Well, lets get down to business and begin this project."
"Yo Lou, I'm not so sure about this." Brian said, with a tremble in his voice. "What's not to be sure about?" Lou told him. "There's nothing to be worried about. You all are in good hands"
"Look, the sooner we get the done, the sooner we can all leave." Howie stated. They all decided to go along with it. After all, what could happen?
The camera crew set up and unlocked the front door to the institution. After all, this would be the part where they would show how far they'd go to be with you.
They were all set and ready to begin shooting. The guys were all geared up, Ashlee and Sheena watched from director chairs, while Pat observed the surroundings. "I don't like the looks of this place at all." Ashlee said, looking towards Sheena. "Oh what's not to like? It has such a Kosei feel." She said sarcastically.
The crew began shooting. Even though they screwed up a couple of times, they were able to shoot half of the video. As they were preparing to begin the next scene, there was a climate change. What used to be sunshine turned into lightning, thunder, and heavy rain. The crew packed up in rapid speed and Lou ran his way into the van. The guys ran into the nearest shelter available and so did the girls... which just happen to be inside the institution.
"Damn, its raining hard out there!" Kevin uttered, panting heavily from all the running. Nick was the first one to notice exactly where they ran into. "Uh, you guys... have any one of you noticed where were at?" he asked. There was a brief moment of silence. Everyone stopped and looked around. "Were inside." Ashlee said. " I am not staying in here!" she continued. You could see the terror in her eyes. Howie walked near the window to take a glimpse if the weather had changed. " I don't think were gonna leave her so soon." he said. You could see the lightning through the curtains, and the sound of thunder echoed through out the Asylum.
The inside wasn't a pretty picture either. It was quiet, cold, and dusty. The furniture was covered with white sheets. The floors were tiled, which made the room seem even colder. The smell of chemicals filled the air. Some say that one could feel the presence of a spirit in another room. Sheena didn't at all seem disturbed, or scared in any way. She felt most connected to the whole thing. There were paintings still hung on the walls. Most were Black and White. Pictures of the staff and some of the patients.
"Listen y'all, we need to stay together cause I'm sure as Hell ain't gonna wonder through this place alone." Pat said. Looking down for a brief second, she encountered on a shiny black object. It was a flashlight. She turned it on, and shined it around the place.
"That's better, now I can see where were going." She stated. Shinning it down the hallway, there was a door that seemed to be held open by some kind of object. Nick's curiosity caused him to want to "explore" this cozy cottage of insanity.
"Wonder what's behind that door?" He asked. "Does it matter." Howie told him.
That comment caught AJ's attention. " What's behind what?" he said, turning his head in Nick's direction. "Oh, that...what is behind that thing?" AJ continued. " We are not going in there." Ashlee exclaimed. " Do you have any other better ideas on what to do? We're gonna be stuck in here quite some time, or at least until that thunderstorm eases." Nick quoted. Silence fell and seemed to make the asylum feel even colder. A flash of lightning appeared and the sound vibrated the floors. There was a small object keeping the door open, which looked like a box. Nick took the flashlight from Pat and walked closer to the door. He bent down and picked up the black box and the heavy door shut. "It's nothing." He said, throwing it in the center of the room. What he hadn't realized was that everyone was in a circular form. Silence
Suddenly, the black box began to spin around in its place; a drawing of light appeared on the floor and formed a circle with a star in the middle. They froze with fear. "What the hell…" AJ mumbled. The box suddenly stopped spinning when the form was completed. It opened by itself and a figure appeared. This figure cause a light blue light to appear around it. Ashlee couldn't speak but AJ was intrigued by it all. His appearance was gruesome, nothing but bones as some would say. He had no eyes, but just 2 black holes. He had no hair, and long, dingy, fingernails, although he did have some teeth. The stench of dead carcass filled the air.
"Welcome to Monroe County , where patients check in…but don't check out." Said the figure. "Well, we have new patients… how rude of me, let me introduce myself, my name is Shwat and I'm the innkeeper." Ashlee regained all her abilities to move and tried to make a run for it and headed for the door. But before she even made it, Shwat sent a spell on the door. She pulled it with all her force but it was useless. " Now don't try to escape dear, your strength is no match for mine." Shwat said. Ashlee turned around and just collapsed into tears. Brain couldn't stand the sight of her in her moment of trepidation. He hastily moved to the corner in which she was to comfort her. " I can't take it anymore Brian, I can't!" She told him with a tremble in her voice. He quickly tried to think of some comforting words to sooth her. " Look Ash, we'll get through this, but panicking won't do any good." Brian told her.
" Look Mr. Shwat, Shwaty ,Shwat Dawg, whatever look can we dip?" AJ asked. "Ha! You think that after you have come forth to my home and invaded our peacefulness you can just leave? Who do you think I am?" he said "You're a who? I thought you where a what." Pat said. Kevin nudged her to stop acting smart. "Look Shwat, there must be some way that we can negotiate." Kevin asked. Shwat turned to glance at Kevin. " There might to be something but I must take it up with my associates." Shwat responded. "Associates? Oh this ought to be good." Nick said sarcastically. After that remark, Shwat took a look at Nick. "Don't question my power, I can hurt you in the worst kind of ways, starting with that precious voice." Nick stood there in disbelief staring at Shwat. He returned to the center of the star and began his enchantment of necromancy. The star on the floor was no longer the color of light, but now replenished with fire. "The ones who died shall awake, I call upon your presence. Open the gates of impetuous Hell! Give me you immoral souls! Arise my advocates! Arise!". The room fell again in complete darkness and silence. A bolt of lighting struck and thundering followed. The star then appeared once again but a voluminous fire shaped the unlawful souls. They all covered their eyes to protect them from the flame. Shwat caused 4 corpses to appear.
"The only way you all leave this place alive is if you all can outsmart them. And may I remind you it is no easy task. Each of them will have a key that will help you further along in your task. You will be placed in a room in groups of two's, and use your minds… and that's the only way you'll come out alive. You're all solving a mystery." He said. "Wait, wait, why do we have to solve it?" Sheena asked. "This Laboratory was shut down for a reason. You all invaded it as if were nothing. There are many of us that don't know the truth, including the ones you see before you." They all were confused there for a minute because obviously it made no sense. "Ok you lost me." Pat retorted. "You're making it harder than it is." Shwat explained. "You help us solve the mystery, you come out alive…you don't solve the mystery you die."
They would have never imagined what was about to happen next…once again the flames extinguished themselves; darkness and silence feel upon the room. Suddenly, screams, wails, and groans could be heard through out the Asylum. From the small box a vertical red light appeared. It then began to curve outward, and form a triangle. As the shape was completed, it began to turn and form a resemblance of a twister. Through this warp you could see skeletal figures, spirits moaning for help and screaming of insufferable pain. They then began to see events, the 1992 hurricane Andrew, the explosion of the NASA spaceship in the 1980's, the pictures of the Vietnam War in the 1970's, and the landing on the moon in 1969…
The fire dimmed and disappeared the room was once again dark…
